Women's Prêt-à-Porter: Me, I'm a Thief

Me, I'm a thief,

I'm a falling star,

I'm a photograph taken,

From where you are.

So shed your tears

That's what they're there for

I don't expect you to understand this war

       -Sarah Slean "Me, I'm a Thief" Nightbugs (2002)

As I was going through my collections, I realized that I had not yet done an oriental inspired line. It was also at this time I was reading various mystery novels one of which was Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke, set in the late 19th century involving oriental trade and the opium wars. Around this time, I was also listening to The Painted Veil audiobook, set mostly in Hong Kong, and watching noir films.

This blend of Occidental and Oriental styles and ideas gave way to the following collection. It just seemed perfectly fitting to create a women's prêt-à-porter line based on this theme.  Even before this collection came together, Sarah Slean's song, Me, I'm a Thief, attached itself to this idea and saturated it with its essence. Despite its unrelated theme when put under full analysis, something about it brought whole new levels of meaning to this collection.  Ultimately, there was no other name for it, the song itself, the lyrics, and the mood it created brought the whole collection together.

I imagined the women wearing these garments to be, like the ones in 1940's Hollywood Noir Films, mysterious, devious, glamorous, and graceful. Can they be trusted? What will they do next? Looks can indeed kill (how cliche of me!)

Enjoy!